Railroad car brake dead lever link anchor



3,423,l l2 RAILRCAD CAR BRAKE DEAD LEVER LINK ANCHOR I Filed Sept. 19, 1967 R. E. CALE Jan. 21, 1969 Sheet a W Wm flw 1 :7

w a R [M Y n 8 km m 1 Jan. 21, 1969 R. E. CALE 3,423,112

RAILROAD CAR BRAKE DEAD LEVER LINK ANCHOR Filed Sept. 19, 1967 Sheet Z of 2 INVENTOR. ROLAND E. CALE United States Patent 3,423,112 RAILROAD CAR BRAKE DEAD LEVER LINK ANCHOR Roland E. Cale, Mount Lebanon, Pa., assignor to Schaefer Equipment Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 668,875 US. Cl. 28720.1 Int. Cl. B61l1 13/02 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE It is among the objects of this invention to provide an assembly of a railroad car brake dead lever link and anchor which is simple in construction, which consists of a minimum of parts, and which can be quickly attached to a car body without requiring new holes to receive it.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the anchor alone;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the anchor plate, taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the anchor; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom view and horizontal section taken on the line VV of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a cleyis 1 is pivotally connected to the upper end of a railway car brake rigging dead lever 2 that is tilted laterally in the customary manner. This clevis extends through an opening in one end of a metal link 3. Preferably, the opening is a longitudinal slot 4 created by a loop forming one end portion of the link. The opposite end of the link is in the form of a circular loop forming a circular opening 5 through the link. The stock from which this loop is formed is circular in cross section, except where it joins the central portion of the link.

In accordance with this invention, an another is provided for connecting link 3 with the body of the railroad car in such a manner that the link will be free to swing up and down and also laterally. In other words, the anchor permits universal movement of the link. The anchor consists of a special plate 7, a metal loop 8 and a filler block 9. The anchor is intended to be attached to the bottom of the plate 10 that connects a pair of parallel longitudinal beams forming part of a car frame. Ordinarily, the connecting plate is fastened to the bottom flange 11 of each of those beams by a row of three uniformly spaced rivets. To connect the anchor as a replacement part to such a car, the two end rivets in one of the rows are removed and replaced by bolts or rivets 12 which extend through holes 113- in the opposite ends of the anchor plate. To allow the top of this plate to fit fiat against the bottom of connecting plate 10, the center of the top of the anchor plate is provided with a concave recess 14 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) that receives the lower head of the unremoved center rivet 15. When the anchor is applied to a car as original equipment, only the center rivet 15 is put in place to support connecting plate 10, and then the anchor plate is fastened to it and the overlying beam by rivets 12.

Between the central recess 14 and each end hole 13 through the anchor plate, the latter is provided with a further hole 17. These two additional holes have their axes inclined downwardly toward each other. Welded in these two holes at 18 are the opposite ends of the loop 8, which is disposed below the plate and is formed by bending a short circular metal rod into V-shape. The diameter of the rod is only slightly smaller than opening 5 through link 3, through Which one inclined side of loop 8 extends. Also, the distance between the two sides of the loop at its lower or closed end is only slightly greater than the diameter of the portion of the link extending through the loop, 50 that there can be little longitudinal movement of the link.

In order to hold the link in the bottom of loop 8 so that the link will not slide up and down around the side of the loop extending through it, the filler block 9 is disposed inside the loop. This block preferably is integral with plate 7, from which it extends down nearly to the portion of the link in the loop. The bottom of the block has fiat surfaces 20 extending transversely of the overlying plate. These surfaces preferably are inclined upwardly slightly from the center of the block toward the sides of the loop so that the filler block will be close to the underlying portion of the link and yet will not interfere with swinging of that end of the link doiwnwardly when the car is loaded. The opposite ends of the filler block are provided with transversely curved inclined grooves 21 that snugly receive the adjoining sides of the loop to give it support and provide additional areas for welds 22.

An advantage of this invention is that the anchor is symmetrical about its vertical center line, so either side of loop 8 can extend through link opening 5. This means that it makes no difference which end of anchor plate 7 points toward a given end of the car, so no installation problem is encountered in that respect.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of .my invention and halve illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced othenwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. The combination with a railroad car brake dead lever link that is provided with a circular opening through one end, of an elongated plate provided with a pair of vertical end holes for fastening it to an overlying car body, the top of the plate having midway between said holes a recess adapted to receive the head of a rivet projecting downwardly from the car body, the plate also being provided with an additional vertical hole between said recess and each end hole, a bent rod in the form of a V-shape loop beneath the plate, the ends of the loop being disposed in said additional holes and welded therein, one side of the loop extending through said link opening, the inside width of the lower end of the loop being only slightly greater than the width of the portion of the link therein, and a filler block inside the loop extending from said plate downwardly nearly to said link portion and engaging the opposite sides of the loop.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, in which the loop-engaging areas of the filler block are the walls of loop-receiving grooves in the block converging downwardly away from said plate at substantially the same angle as the sides of the loop.

3. The combination recited in claim 2, in which the sides of the loop are welded in said grooves.

4. The combination recited in claim 1, in which the lower end of the filler block has a pair of flat surfaces between the sides of the loop inclined upwardly toward those sides from a junction line midway between them.

5. The combination recited in claim 1, in which the lower end of the loop is curved in an arc substantially concentric with the portion of the link therein.

6. The combination recited in claim 1, in which the loop-engaging areas of the filler block are the walls of loop-receiving grooves in the block converging downwardly away from said plate at substantially the same angle as the sides of the loop and Welded thereto, and the lower end of the filler block has a pair of flat surfaces between the sides of the loop inclined upwardly toward those sides from a junction line midway between them.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner.

WAYNE L. SHE-DD, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

